Piano Duo Weeks and Morgan to Perform

Converse Professor of Piano Douglas Weeks and Director of the Lawson Academy of the Arts Paula Morgan will combine their talent to offer a fun and lighthearted program on duo-piano Monday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Daniel Recital Hall. The unique and delightful recital is open to all and is free of charge.

Weeks is an experienced artist, having performed extensively in the United States as well as Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. He is an international competitor, and was a prizewinner in the 1979 Casadesus International Piano Competition.

Morgan is an accomplished teacher and administrator at the Lawson Academy and performs as a duo-piano artist and with the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

The program will open with Franz Schubert’s delightful and charming Grand Rondeau, a single-movement piece for one piano requiring four hands. This will be followed by one of the greatest works in two-piano literature and a staple of the repertoire, the beloved Mozart Sonata in D Major. Weeks’ comments on the piece following the Mozart revealed his enthusiasm, “The Serpant’s Kiss is a clever and energetic rag for two pianos written by the contemporary composer William Bolcom, a real foot stomper.”

The second half of the recital will be a memorable one, featuring the enduringly popular Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns. The work was written in 1886 for two pianos and a chamber orchestra, and depicts various animals in a skillful and amusing manner. The chamber orchestra will be made up of Converse faculty and students, and professional musicians from Spartanburg. Each movement will be preceded by a poem written by Ogden Nash and read by Converse Assistant Professor of Theater Brent Glenn.